Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Is There a Market for Jeremy Affeldt?

It is a little peculiar that the Giants are looking at trading Affeldt right after picking up his option, especially considering his relatively high salary at $5 million for this season but I guess the front office has had a change of heart or think the market for relievers has changed enough that flipping him might make sense.

On that last part my initial reaction was that to move him it might require eating money which would kind of make less sense to clear payroll. After taking a look at the available free agents that might not be the case. Let’s take a closer look.

His 2.63 ERA last season would be 5th best among free agent relief pitchers.

His 3.69 FIP last season would be 12th best among free agent relief pitchers.

His 3.39 xFIP last season would be 7th best among free agent relief pitchers.

He has durability on his side, pitching at least 50 innings the last 6 year and his injury last season was to his non-pitching hand. Another bonus he isn’t just a loogy with just about equal splits against lefties and righties.

In addition he is probably better than any of the other left handed options available where the closet completion is Darren Oliver (who is probably better) or George Sherrill (who is probably worse). With the free agent market for relievers pretty thin and the left handed free agent market even worse it might not be unrealistic to expect the Giants to find someone who is desperate enough to take him at that his bloated salary.

It is still odd that Affeldt’s name is being floated in these rumors but then again this came from a “source” so it is hard to know how accurate this is, I think it is possible that the Giants could find someone to trade with.

The return in prospect or other players is not likely to be very high with his salary but I think that there is a market out there where the Giants could unload him without trading him for pennies on the dollar.
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